Feeding device for printing-presses.



No. 658,8". Patented Oct. 2, I900.

J. H. SMITH.

FEEDING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

(Application file!- IDec. 13, 1899. (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet I.

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FEEDING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

(Application filed Dec. 13, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets$heet 2.

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No. 658,811. Pafented Oct. 2, 1900.

.1. 11. SMITH.

FEEDING DEVICE FOR PBINTING PRESSES.

(Application filerL Dem, .18, 1-899.)

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES H. SMITH, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

FEEDING DEVICE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 658,811, dated October 2, 1900.

Annlieation filed December 13, 1899. Serial No. 740,1 78. \No model.)

To (tZZ whom, it ntzty concern:

Be i tknown that I, JAMES H. SMITH, of Providence, county of Providence, State of Rhode Island, have invented an Improvementin Feeding Devices forPrinting-Presses, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to devices for facili tating the feeding of individual sheets in pri n ting-presses, and while my said invention is perhaps most useful in connection with antomatic feeding mechanisms-that is, mechanisms that feed the sheets automatically as distinguished from manual feeding-yet my said invention is by no means limited to automatic feeding mechanism, for it is useful even in presses where the sheets are fed manually.

Primarily my invention relates to means for insuring proper positioning of the sheets against the front guides or other devices that fix the positions of the sheets preparatory to their engagement by the grippers upon the press-cylinder, thus insuring accuracy of register, which is an important consideration in printing, particularly in lithographic or similar printing.

Myinvention when used in connection with automatic feeding mechanism comprehends also means whereby the devices for moving or assisting in the movement of the sheets forwardly against the front guides may act in conjunction with the transverse positioning devices for insuring proper transverse positioning of the sheet, so that neither will interfere with the mostefficient operation of'the other.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 in side elevation, partial section, illustrates one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2, a view of a part of the mechanism Fig. 1, showing the front guide and with the parts differently positioned; Fig. 3, a view of a sufficient portion of an automatic feeding mechanism arranged in connection with my invention to enable the latter and its operation in reference to said automatic mechanism to be clearly understood; Fig. 4 a View similar to Fig. 1, 011 a smaller scale, tor illustrating a modified form of my invention; Fig. 5, a top or plan view of the roller end of the front guide, Fig. 4; Fig. 6, an edge View of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a front view of Fig. 5; and Fig. 8, a section on the dotted line at as, Fig. 6.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, 0 represents a portion of the impressioncylinder of a printing-press-such, for instance, as a rotary lithographic press of the type illustrated in United States Patent to Willis K. Hodgman, No. 340,785, dated April 27, 1886-said cylinder being provided with a plurality of under guide ribs or surfaces (marked a) to support the sheet in the plane in which it is to be seized by the grippers, as described in said Hodgman patent and as understood by those skilled in the art.

F is a portion of the usual feed-board down which the sheets are fed to the impressioncylinder.

One of the front guides is shown at f, it being'mounted in accordance with any wellknown and suitable practice and here shown as forked at its free end to straddle one of the under guide-ribs u of the impression-cylinder, as indicated in said Hodgman patent. Any other well-known or suitable front-guide arrangement may be employed, and While I have shown the impression-cylinder as indicated in the Hodgman patent, yet it will he understood that my invention is in no wise limited to the press of the Hodgman patent or to any other kind of press, but may be applied to any press in connection with which it may be used. There maybe any desired number of front guides f, usually, however,

two, or, at the most, three are found sufficient.

Accuracy of register of course depends upon the accuracy with which the sheets are positioned against the front guides fand also against the usual side stops or guides, (indicated at m,) and prior to my present invention much difficulty has been experienced, particularly when the sheets are fed rapidly, in placing the sheets uniformly in contact with these front and edge guides. Particularly has this difficulty been apparent when automatic feeding mechanisms have been employed, for while such mechanisms have been found capable of feeding the sheets rapidly down thefeed-board toward the front guides, yet one edge of a sheet is quite apt to be fed more rapidly than the other edge,

so that the sheets would not meet all the front guides at its front edge, and, furthermore, the lateral positioning devices that have been found necessary to move the sheet laterally against the edge guide are very apt to destroy the contact of the leading edge of the sheet with the front guides. In other words, it has been found next to impossible in mechanisms as heretofore constructed to employ means for feeding the sheets properly into contact with the front guides and means for feeding the sheet properly into contact with the edge guide withoutone of said means impairing the effectiveness of the other. My present invention obviates these difliculties in a manner that will be clearly understood from the following description of the best embodiment thereof now known to me.

Over the feed-board is arranged a suitable transverse support conveniently in the form of an angle-iron a, carrying the forwardlyprojectingarms a, inthe ends of which is journaled a shaft a geared at a at one of its ends (see Fig. 3) to a suitable actuating'shaft that produces continuous rotation of said shaft a in the direction of the arrow thereon, Fig. 1. This shaft (1 is provided with a series of cams b, one for each front guide, andupon lhese cams rest the rollers c of the carriers c, pivoted at c to brackets 0 secured to the transverse support a. For the best results both the brackets c and the arms a are made longitudinally adjustable on the transverse support ct in a well-known or suitable manneras, for instance, by slotting the said supports where the screws for retaining the said brackets and arms in position pass therethrough-one of the slots for the bolt that holds one of the brackets a being indicated at 0 Fig. 1, the bolt itself being marked 0 The carriers 0 at their outer ends each carry a roller feed device (1. In the embodiment of my invention here shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, these roller feed devices d are each in the form of a wheel,the journals d of which are arranged in slots (1 in the lower ends of a yoke (1 adj ustably secured to the end of the carrier 0. As shown in Fig. 1, the yoke d is provided with atransverse bearingorfulcrumrib (i that is held against the face of the carrier c by two set-screws or bolts d arranged respectively, on opposite sides of the said rib 01 By slackening one of these bolts and tightening the other the yoke 61 may be locked on the rib d' as a fulcrum, thereby to adjust the lower end of the yoke carrying the wheel (1 toward or from its front guide for adjusting the feed to the requirements of the sheets for the time being employed in the press. As here shown,each cam b is provided with a high part 1, extending throughout approximately one-half of the circumference of the cam and of a height such as will lift the carrier 0 to remove the feed-wheel (Z from contact with the impression-cylinder or any sheet thereupon. At the opposite ends of the high part 1 are arranged depressions 2 3, in turn separated by another high part 4:, which, however, is only about one-half of the height of the part 1. The rotation of the cam-shaft a? is so timed with reference to the rotation of the impression-cylinder O and the speed of the automatic or other feed mechanism or means that as soon as one sheet is drawn from the feed-board upon and about the impression-cylinder and before another sheet is fed down to the cylinder the low part 2 of the cam b will drop the carrier 0, so as to bring the feed-wheel (1 into running contact with the surface of the impression-cylinder C, said feed-wheel in the present instance being dropped upon the top of the under guide-rib u of the impression-cylinder that is straddled by its adjacent front guide f. The carrier 0' for the best results is dropped somewhat below the lowermost position of the feed-wheel d, resting upon the impression-cylinder, so as to leave the said wheel restingfreely and by gravity upon the under guide-rib of said impression-cylinder, from which it immediately receives a rotary motion in the direction of the arrow, Figs. 1 and 2, which of course at the bight between the said wheel and the impression-cylinder is in the same direction as the travel of that portion of the impressioncylinder. Fig. 2 shows the feed-wheel d in cont-act with and rotated by the impressioncylinder. \Vhen thus positioned and set in rotation by the impression-cylinder C, the next sheet is fed downwardly upon the feedboard F, preferably by any usual or wellknown feeding mechanism, the same forming no part of this invention, into the bight between the feed-wheel d and the impressioncylinder 0, and the moment the leading edge of said sheet enters the bight between said feed-wheel and impression-cylinder said sheet is acted upon at or adjacent its leading edge and is pulled or drawn by the combined action of said feed-wheel and impression-cylinder firmly and quickly forward into proper contact with the front guide f. Inasmuch as the several feed-wheels (Z act independently upon corresponding portions of the leading edge of the sheet, it is evident that if said sliding edge is farther advanced at one point than another the feed wheel or wheels that act .upon the latter point will draw or pull the latter forward into contact with the adjacent front guides, even although another portion of the said leading edge was previously brought into contact with its front guides. In other words, the combined action of the feed-wheels d is to insure proper contact of all portions of the leading edge of the sheet with the front guides opposed thereto and operates to straighten said leading edge and the sheet if any straightening is required. It is necessary, however, for the operator or for the automatic mechanism when the latter is employed to move the sheet laterally or to one side into contact with the edge guide in order to complete the proper positioning of the sheet for seizure by the grippers on the impression-cylinder. With the arrangement of feed-wheels shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, this can be betteraccomplish ed when the feedwheels d are removed from contact with the sheet upon the impression'cylinder. Accordingly, continued rotation of the cam 12 after having dropped the feed-wheel d into contact with the impression-cylinder, as described, acts quickly through the high portion 4 of said cam to lift the carrier 0 and the feedwheel (I momentarily and sufficiently to clear the feed-wheel d of the sheet resting upon the impression-cylinder C beneath it, and during the interval in which said feed-wheel dis thus lifted usual side wipers, as n, Fig. 3, which are commonly provided with a yielding end, as rubber, engage and move the sheet laterally against the edge guide on to insure lateral register of the sheet, said Wipers being mounted to rotate in planes at right angles to the feed of the sheet and operating by frictional engagementwith the sheet to draw it over against the edge guide in a well-known manner. To make certain that this lateral positioning of the sheet does not destroy the register of the leading edge thereof, further rotation of the cam Z) brings the low part 3 beneath the roller-carrier c and again drops the feed-rollers d upon the sheet on the impression-cylinder and by pressing the latter upon the impression -cylinder rotating beneath the sheet causes the said sheet again to be drawn firmly against the front guides if any such further movement is required. The sheet is now seized by the usual grippers (not shown) upon theimpression-cylinder and drawn upon and about the said cylinder, during which time the feed-wheels d are raised, so as not to retard the free withdrawal of the sheet from the feed-board.- The side wipers 11 here referred to are shown as mounted upon the rotating shafts 72, substantially parallel to the direction of feed of the sheet and geared to the cross-shaft M, which rotates them in unison and in proper time with reference to the other parts of the device to intermittingly apply the wipers to the sheet and effect its lateral feed. Thus the sheet is first drawn against the front guides, then moved laterally against the edge guide, and, lastly, a second time drawn against the front guides if the front register has been destroyed by the lateral movement of the sheet. The only motion here imparted to the feed-wheels d is derived frictionally'by contact with the rotating cyl-- inder 0 before the sheet enters the bight between the same, and while the weight of the feed-wheels and the size thereof is so proportioned as to give sufficient required inertia or momentum to the wheels to cause them to rotate momentarily, even after the sheet is entered between the same and the cylinder, thereby to assist in feeding the edge of the sheet forward against the front guides, yet the moment the sheet meets the front guides the wheels instantly stop by frictional engagement with the new stationary sheet, and when after the lateral adjustment the feed-Wheels are again dropped upon the sheet, if the latter has been moved away from the front guides and the front register destroyed, the weight of the wheels pressing the paper upon the moving cylinder beneath is sufficient to cause the latter to feed the sheet again forward to the front guides, and the wheels d are at such time free to rotate, so as not to retard the forward movement of the sheet to destroy the register. Thus the rotation of each feed-wheel is entirely independent of all the others and may continue for a greater or less time than the others, according to the conditions that exist immediately adjacent each of said wheels, and while the momentum due to the friction of the wheel obtained as described is sufficient to provide substantial assistance in feeding the edges of the sheet against the front guides in the first instance, yet because said wheels are not positively or even frictionally geared for constant rotation they are quickly, in fact instantly, stopped by the stopping of the sheet when it brings up against the front guide, so that there is no tendency due to the wheels d to crowd the sheet forward after it has' once met the front guides, and the wrinkling or crumpling of the sheet encountered in early devices provided for this purpose is entirely avoided by myinvention. llhe front guides engage the leading edge of the sheet, and it will be manifest that the sheet is acted upon by the inertia feed devicein my invention so close to its leading edge as to prevent buckling. If the sheet is pushed against the guides, as by feed devices, some distance back from its leading edge, it is very liable to bend or buckle, particularly with light stock, so that when the front guides are raised the sudden flattening of the released sheet projects its leading edge a fraction of an inch ahead of the position it should occupy when engaged by the gripping devices on the impression-cylinder, and the register is correspondingly bad. By acting upon the sheet very close to its leading edge to move the sheet forward against the front guide buckling cannot occur, and it will be noticed that the inertia feed device is so located as to act upon the sheet very near the line of action of the front guides.

The front guides f may be provided with the usual spring-depressors f Fig. 2, to assist in holding the leading edge of the sheet downwardly upon the cylinder, so that it may be properly engaged by the grippers.

In Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, I have illustrated a modification of my invention, wherein the rotary feed device corresponding to the wheel 01 is in the form of a ball or sphere e, freely arranged in a suitable cup e, mounted directly upon the end of the front guide J, said ball being confined in the cup with a certain freedom of rising-and-falling movement by at pin 6 passing transversely through the cup. In this case I prefer to employ two front-guide presser-springs f arranged at opposite sides of the ball feed device. Obviously the action of the ball 6 in feeding the leading edge of a sheet against the front guides is substantially identical with the action of the feed-wheel d of the construction, Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, and the said ball e, being unconfined in any direction and free to rotate in all directions, permits free transverse shifting of the sheet by the lateral feed devices to perfect the edge adjustment without making it necessary to lift said ball out of contact with the sheet that is, the sheet maybe moved in any direction while the ball feed device rests upon it, said feed device rotating in any direction in which the sheet is moved, thus simplifying somewhat the construction, Figs. 1. to 3, inelusive.

In Figs. 2 and 4 the sheet entering the bight between the feed device and the cylinder is indicated at S.

Obviously the rotary feed device, whether in the form of a wheel or a ball, would operate in connection with any traveling surface or support beneath the sheet, whether in the form of a cylinder, as the impression-cylinder O, or otherwise.

My invention is not restricted to the embodiments here shown, but may be varied within the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed by this specification, and as set forth in the claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a printing-press, the combination with a front guide device, of an inertia feed device arranged adjacent thereto, to exert a pull upon the sheet and position the leading edge thereof relatively to the front guide device.

2. In a printing-press, the combination with front and edge guides, of an inertia feed device, to engage the sheet at or near its leading edge and pull it into position against the front guides.

3. In a printing-press, the combination with front and edge guides, of an inertia feed device located adjacent the front guides and acting upon or adjacent the leading edge of and to move a sheet in one direction, means to move a sheet in a different direction, and means to remove said inertia feed device from operative engagement with a sheet during operation of said feeding means.

4. In a printingpress, the combination with front guides, and an impression-cylinder, of an inertia feed device cooperating with the latter, and located to act upon the leading edge of the sheet adjacent the front guides.

5. In a printing-press, the combination with an impression-cylinder provided with raised under guide ribs or surfaces, of front guides, and rotary feed devices arranged adjacent thereto and opposed to and acting in conjunction with said raised under guide cylinder-surfaces, to act upon the sheet or near its leading edge and pull the sheet forward.

6. The combination witha front guide, and an inertia feed device arranged adjacent thereto, and lateral feed devices, of means to remove said inertia feed device from operative engagement with a sheet during action of said lateral feed devices and to return said inertia feed device into operative engagement with said sheet after operation of said lateral feed devices.

7. In a printing press, the combination with an impression-cylinder, of front guides, and rotary feed devices adjacent said front guides and cooperating with said cylinder to act upon a sheet at or near its leading edge and pull the sheet against said front guides.

8. In a printing press, the combination with an impression cylinder, a feed-board and front guides arranged in front of the said feed-board and somewhat removed therefrom, of rotary feed devices arranged between the said feed-board and front guides to pull a sheet toward said front guides.

9. In a printing press, the combination with front guides, a feed-board, and automatic feed mechanism to feed the sheets down said feed-board, of inertia feed devices arranged in front of said guides to receive the sheets from said automatic feed mechanism and pull said sheets toward said front guides, for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES H. SMITH.

Witnesses:

MARCUS M. BURDIcK, EDWARD S. JoNEs. 

